


Riders of the Sky

by Sandentwins



Series: Knight of Fire Breath [1]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dragons, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-13
Updated: 2013-04-13
Packaged: 2017-12-13 20:30:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/828556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sandentwins/pseuds/Sandentwins
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a world where dragons live among trolls, one of them will become friends with a young renegate.<br/>But can they survive to the tyrannic opression together? Can they resist to all the dangers that are waiting for them in the world of Alternia?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Riders of the Sky

The blacksmith's hammer was clattering against the anvil, the shepherd's woolbeasts were bleating, my stomach was empty along with my wallet and these juicy apples looked delicious.  
I stood next to the stand, close enough to touch the fruits, and yet far enough away enough so as not to be recognized; I often came here. On my back, my white crab friend was softly screeching in my ears. I looked around, watching for any Blue Swords. Suddenly, Kaniot clicked his pincers. It was the signal I was waiting for; the shopkeeper wasn't paying attention. And in less than one second, there was a juicy apple under my ripped shirt. I ran for liberty, trying to get away before someone noticed me. I couldn't hold a giggle; I finally got something to eat after two days of starving. With my innate agility, I climbed in a tree, Kanny on my back, and hid between the branches. I took my lunch and ate it in two seconds, leaving the apple core to my companion.  
He and I were living in the semi-wilderness, in a tree house made of old planks and rubbish. I had a great view over the village of Prospit, one of the biggest in the kingdom of Alternia. And this place, the Lopah woods, was my home. I jumped over the branches, climbed some other trees, and finally found mine. It wasn't the highest nor the shortest, but it was the perfectest. Wait, does this word even exist? I don't know, I never went to school. It was too expensive for my poor farmer parents. I really missed them. After the war, the cruel arsonists, the food deprivation and everything else that happened these last seven sweeps, I was the only one of my family surviving, with my little crab friend. The latter fell down on his rag bed. I chucked his head, and had a look outside. The houses far away were belching chimney smoke, and seeing these black clouds above the foliage reminded me of the cruel fire that killed hundreds of people. I shed a tear, a single tear. Strange fact, I hadn't cried in sweeps. All of my tears were gone.  
Letting Kanny sleep after our run, I scaled down my house, and looked for any wild berries in the shrubs around the tree. I found none, probably because of the children who often played here. I liked to see the youth from my house: it reminded me of better times. Of my old friends.  
I suddenly heard a noise. I recognized their metal boots; the Blue Swords. I hid in a bush, and didn't move. The footsteps were coming from right in front of me. I waited until they went away, holding my breath. I was used to them. The Blue Swords were the policemen of Alternia: vicious, dangerous, never paying around, they were feared everywhere. But the woods were my territory, bitches. With my hand-made, deadly traps. In no time, the soldiers disappeared in a hole in the ground, with sharp stakes waiting for them at the bottom. I laughed. Rather kill than die, in this world where everything is dangerous. And in case of dearth, some meat couldn't hurt. Dearth was really common these times: our queen was evil and malicious. I was taking the little money they had, their clothes and everything useful. I even once got a sword, but never used it: it was too heavy, and dingy with peasant's blood.  
I hadn't found much this time, only some coins and a jacket. These guys were spending all their money in the tavern or playing cards, while poor families were starving to death. It made me sick.  
The wind was blowing between the trees. The rain was close, it would maybe fall during the night. I sat on a rock to rub my bare feet, tired by my run from the market place. I counted the coins as the wind became stronger: one,two...what was after two?  
On the path to an other trap, I heard a noise. A soft, wheezing noise, as that of a bird flying. I was used to it, but this one was different. Like if the bird was bigger than the usual featherbeasts.  
Or maybe it wasn't a bird.  
The noise was very close, but there wasn't anybody except me. I closed my eyes, trying to locate its source, but this became useless when I heard something crashing in the trees. I climbed over some branches, my loot in hand, and saw the weirdest thing ever.  
On the ground, a creature was lying down. Its scaled body was full of scalds and scratches. Most of the sharp thorns on its spine were broken, its long tail wasn't moving, and the giant wings were ripped in places. I didn't know what this terrifying beast was, but it was way taller than me, too much tall for a forest consort. Carefully, I jumped to the monster. Smoke was escaping from its nostrils. I watched its blue scales, bright as... in fact, I've never seen something this bright, this blue. I had a look at the scary claws, sharp as razors, at the protrusions on its head, at the pointy fangs sticking out of its mouth. Around the beast's eyes, black lines were drawing odd squares. All of a sudden, these eyes opened, and even bluer (again, does that word exist?) pupils stared at me. The animal growled, and I jumped back. It tried to raise a claw, but failed. I understood it was injured, and needed help. Slowly, I took some steps to it, trying to not scare him, and finally, put a hand on his head. Its scales were pretty soft under my palm. The creature wasn't trying to eat me, to my great relief.

"Skriaaaaaaaa!"

Kaniot jumped out of his hideout, pincers raised, and rushed for the beast. He had followed me in secret.

"Kanny, stop!", I shouted.

He didn't listen, and hit the blue animal, which released a pained scream. It took several long minutes to convince him to stop and calm down the creature. Eventually, I could examine the cerulean being. The hard landing made him many wounds, to not say broken bones. It had to be healed very quick.

"Don't worry," I said to it. "I'll care for you."

The plants of Lopah couldn't hide secrets from me. I knew exactly which were useful in case of injuries, and gathered enough for the animal. By the way, what kind of animal was it? It looked like a huge blue lizard, with wings and thorns. On my back, Kanny had scornful growls, although he was very friendly with the woods' wilderness. I told him to cut some leaves.

"It's not safe for you here. I'll take you somewhere," I spoke softly to it.

But the thing was indeed to heavy for me to carry. It raised its head, and suddenly transformed. In a soft blue light flash, it had turned into a troll. I couldn't believe my eyes. His horns were wavy abaft, like the beast's head nubs. On his wounds, his blood was blue, a splendid dark blue like his scales', and the squares on his eyes were now glasses. I stayed here, fascinated by this unexpected metamorphosis. The troll, after some effort, stood up, and stared at me, while I stared at him. On my back, Kanny had ceased to growl.

"Who...are you?" I asked.

The troll had a strange noise, like if he was trying to talk. He coughed many times, and finally gave up. I put him on the soldier's jacket, both for warming him up and hide his naked body. He looked at me, and I felt his tongue licking all over my face, like a barkbeast. I let him; maybe it was his way to thank me. I put some chewed leaves on his wounds, and he instantly felt better. Kanny growled him to stop licking me like a lollipop.

"Come with me", I said.

I brought him to my house. He hadn't any difficulties to climb trees. He then sat on the floor, and had his odd noise.

"Who are you?"

"-*noise* raaaah *stranger noise*"

Unable to talk, he hit the planks with his hand, in an irregular sequence. His nails on the moldy wood sounded like a pincer clacking. He knew the tongue of the crabs. This language, Kanny could understand it, and he translated in crab-growl for me.

"You're telling me you're a...dragon? But...you can take the appearance of a troll?"

He nodded. I remembered this folklore of my childhood: dragons used to live in the high places (as the Locas cavernous mountains or the Lowaa's old cathedrals), but had been hunted to extinction because of their powers. The few survivors were used in the imperial army. Clicks, growls.

"You're young, and tried to fly, but fell because the wind was too strong. Poor boy, the landing sure was hard."

I fawned on his head. He put it on my knees, like an animal. I had a smile.

"That's okay, boy. By the way, do you have a name?"

He said that no. I thought about it for a minute, then found the perfect one.

"Safire."

A pun between the sapphire blue of his scales and eyes, and the fire associated with dragons. The troll blinked, and then bent his mouth into a cute smile.

"Is it okay for you? If so, I'm okay too."

"-*skree* (V) O-O () *clac* (Well, if you are...)", Kanny said.

I patted the dragon-troll's head.

"You're safe here as long as you stay with me, Safire."

He licked my face again. His tongue was rough and blue, but I liked this display of affection for an unknown reason.

\---

"Stay calm, avoid everybody, and if someone talks to you, let me answer."

"-*smile* Raah!"

A dragon, even on his troll form, had to eat. Usually, I didn't use the little money I had to buy things I could steal, but I had to make an exception. I've found enough on the Blue Swords to afford some bread. Just a loaf we had to cut in three. At least it's something good to eat.  
On the market, I saw the blacksmith's stand, with a splendid armor exposed. The silver netting was reflecting the sunlight, colouring it like a rainbow, blue steel plaques were shining like Safire's scales, with the same cerulean glint. The metal suit was ornamented with golden arabesques, wing-like epaulets, sharp iron thorns all over the sleeves and black leather boots. While admiring it, I remembered I hadn't enough gold to wear this wonder, but enough head-freedom to imagine myself in it. While I was at it, I fantasized about riding Safire above the clouds. But again, these were just dreams.  
The 'dinner' bought, I noticed the large gathering in front of the marketplace's bulletin board. Safire took my hand, scared by the crowd. I couldn't hold back a little blush, but I was quickly able to hide it. On the board, a new paper was posted up. Unable to read, I asked someone about it.

"You didn't know? The Blue Swords are offering a great reward for whoever brings them a dragon alive. They saw one yesterday."

That was it. They knew about him. On my back, Kaniot clicked his nippers.

"*claclaclac* (You think about what I think?)"

"-Rather not."

I took Safire out of the village, and we went back to the woods. When Kaniot has an idea, it's always nightmarish for me.

\---

"(V) O~O (V) Kaaar-kaaat?"

"-What do you want, Kanny?"

After our leaf-salad sandwich under the starry midnight sky, Safire had found his bed between the highest branches of my house, while I sat on the gnarled roots. Except for the drowsy dragon, Kaniot and I were alone in the middle of the night.

"*clicks* (I thought about the reward thing. It's not a bad idea.)"

"-You want me to sell Safire? Don't even think about it."

"-(V) $u$ (V)*growl* (You don't understand, it could help us a lot.)"

"-I know we're poor and we starve everyday, but he's my friend. Look, you live here too, but I never sold you or cooked crab salad."

"-*angry clicks* (It's not the same. I lived with your family since even before your birth. The dragon is a stranger.)"

"-What's the difference? He's my friend."

He took me by the shoulders, and stared at me with his red eyes.

"*growls, chirps* (I saw your family die. I saw you creeping in the mud to eat grass during the dearth. I watched you waiting for days before even catching a mouse. I tried many times to give you my part, but you always denied. I lived all of this with you. How would your parents react if they see the life you have?)"

I slapped the white crab. My hand got hurt on the hard carapace.

"Don't talk about my parents like that!"

"-(V) Ò-Ó () *grr* (It's only for you that I say this. You need this money. You deserve it, after all of your trials. And the dragon is right here, it's too easy. Just bring it to the Blues tomorrow.)"

"-You are a jerk, Kaniot."

He left me, and climbed back up.

"Skreeeeeeee. (Think about it.)", I heard.

"-Yeah. 'Skree' ya later."

My head was so heavy to carry, heavy of thoughts. I held my red hand in the other, looking at my long, dirty nails, at my coarse and dry palm. The crab was right: I needed money. I often dreamed of myself sleeping on a real bed, eating warm food, wearing nice clothes, or just being respected. I dreamed I'd avenge my family by finally becoming someone. And I had the possibility, right here, sleeping on my tree. But Safire was my friend. I had to protect him from the hunters. I heard many things about what they became once caught: living fire-throwers, 1st line targets, or simply heavy stuff carriers. My little dragon was too young for the army, that's why I'll never let him in their hands.  
Was it worth it to sell my friend to have a better life? Or to keep him and stay poor? A dragon grows up very fast, and needs a lot of meat. But a dragon can be a true friend too. I felt like my head was ready to explode. I couldn't keep Safire. He couldn't fly, so releasing him in the wild was impossible. His troll form was useless in this case. He needed to learn to fly, needed vast spaces, needed all these things I couldn't give to him. The choice was so hard to make: let Safire die, and build up my life with shameful money? Make him stay and die of hunger, stay in the shame of my deceased family? The dilemma became impossible. Kaniot had really weighty arguments.  
Despite my feelings, I chose the least shameful option.

\---

Safire was looking at me strange. Everybody was. Everyone was wondering why my blue troll friend had a leash around the neck. I had cried a lot, last night. Kaniot went on telling me it was the best thing to do. And like a naive wiggler, I believed him, even thought it too. The Blue Swords' basement wasn't so far from the Lopah forest. After half an hour walking, I arrived at my destination, the huge black building that was also used as a prison. I was always afraid to come here, but for the first time I went through the portal, it was of my own will- or rather my crab's, the pesky beast. I wondered if it was really me, walking between the soldiers of death, a troll leashed like a barkbeast with me. I wondered to whom this guy in uniform was talking. I wondered who answered, and who told to Safire to transform. The Blues couldn't believe their eyes; the wild dragon, obeying a peasant boy. They took the leash, and suddenly Safire understood. He looked at me, and I saw a cerulean tear in his dragon eye. He then tried to rip off the leafy collar, but found himself covered in chains. He roared, a painful bellow that made my heart break. He turned back into a troll, trying to reach me, and I couldn't help to hold his hand.

"Safire...It's okay. You can't stay with me, it's too dangerous."

"-Raaa... Krr-raaar..."

They broke us apart. One of them said something I didn't understand, and gave me a pouch full of coins. I couldn't drive my regard to anywhere but my friend, my dragon friend I sold for dirty money. I tried to walk away, and failed. That's when I heard it.

"Karkat!"

Safire just said my name. He called me again, and again, until he cried, and until I cried too. To hide my tears, I had nothing to do but run away, run to escape the scene.  
Is this where greed leads us?

\---

I climbed my tree, entered the miserable plank shack, and found Kanny peacefully sleeping. I threw the pouch on his crab face to wake him up.

"Here. Have the fruit of your hate."

Before he could add something, I escaped, landed on an oak's treetop, and cried. I cried a lot, cried about my friend, my poor dragon I cowardly abandoned.

"Safire... Safire, my poor Safire..."

My tears were shining like little garnets. This ruby red reminded me of his sapphire blue. The blue of his terse scales, the blue of his large eyes, the blue of his wings. Wings he would never use again. He would never fly in the blue skies, weave through the clouds, and I would never see him again. I cried again, realizing the mistake I made by listening to Kaniot. I hid my face in my hands. They still smelled like him. This scent was adorable, nostalgic, almost soporific. It showed me how much I was missing him. I have to save him. But how? He's locked in a cold prison, surrounded by guards, and I'm alone. All I've got is some stupid gold. But then, I thought about a plan.

'If I've touched shameful money, I can touch whatever is bought with it.'

\---

Karkat left you all alone. Karkat made you sad. You are sad and alone and even sadder and more alone and cold. The bad men put you chains. Your paws hurt. You're hungry. You're scared. Two bad men enter. They are mean. One of them examines you, the other say things to him. You hear the words 'too young', 'fire', 'carry' and 'weapons'. You are scared, but if you attack they'll hurt you. So you don't move. One of them pulls your tail. Your body changes because of the pain. You are even more cold. You miss Karkat a lot. They put chains on your neck, and make you walk out of the dark room. They bring you outside, and force you to transform again. Another mean man looks at your claws, then takes a metal long thing and files them. They are now sharper. Then, he puts a leather saddle on your back, and someone attempts to sit on it. They don't have the right to tame you like a baby! You rear up, and make him fly to the wall. Here come the chains, the whip, the pain. You resist the urge to turn back into a troll, and roar. You felt your back bleeding, but they hurt you again. That's it. You bite the guy next to you. They draw their swords. You shout, shout your rage out. You shout so much that you throw a blue fire to the sky. Two men are on fire. A third was bitten to death. You heat up your chains and break them with your paws. You then shrivel three others and run. While escaping, you scratch everything you can reach, trying to break the high metal fences. You finally jump over them, and run again. And then, two guys burst out from the house of death. They're riding giant white animals. You try to flutter your wings, but fail. They're too heavy. You can already feel their arrows enter your flesh. Suddenly, the creatures fall. Their riders too. You see a small boy cutting their limbs off with a shiny sword. His armor looks like a dragon's scales. His eyes are red as rubies.

\---

"Safire!"

I hugged my dragon friend as tightly as I could.

"I'm sorry, so so so sorry, Safire! I promise I'll never abandon you again!"

"-Karkat...forgiven. Safire friend Karkat."

It was the first words I heard from him. I smiled, and heard the soldiers running. They had rifles. Suddenly, Safire turned back, and bent down his tail.

"Karkat climb!"

Without anymore thinking, I jumped on the saddle they put on him.

"Safire... but you can't fl-"

He ran. I clawed at his neck, my sword in hand, and he jumped. His wings led us above the surprised Blues. I realized we were flying. I was riding a dragon. I was giving him the order to burn our pursuers. I was feeling dizzy.  
Safire turned back, and flew above the clouds. The wind was whistling in my ears, its cold blades rushing on my cheeks, putting shivers on my skin under the splenderful armor I bought with the crab's money. I also repaired the old sword. Kaniot wasn't happy to see this, but he let me go. He was right: I had to become someone. I had to avenge my family. That's why I'll be what I was right now: a dragon rider.

"Safire, where are we going?"

"-Safire don't know. Protect Karkat."

We flew above the houses, the trees, the wind. This feeling of freedom was amazing. Slowly, I stood up on the dragon's back, without any fear of falling down, and breathed in the cold air. It was almost like a revival to fly, to feel my heart beating this fast, to hear the roar of the clouds behind me...  
Wait...since when do clouds roar?  
I turned back, and saw three Blue Swords. Two of them were riding featherbeasts, while the third stood on a giant, violet dragon. This one had a purple uniform. When I saw it, my heart beated fast from fear; it was an Imperial Skydweller. The queen knew about my dragon, and absolutely wanted it.

"Dive, Safire!" I shouted.

He obeyed, and flew between the trees. The beasts were close to us, now. I took my sword, jumped on the first one and killed its rider. I was in my second state of mind, and couldn't think clearly anymore. Then, I took his spear and threw it on the second animal's flank. The bird fell with a loud noise. I jumped back on my dragon without being hurt. Above the trees, the amethyst beast threw its fire at us, but Safire dodged it right in time. It was very hard to fly in the middle of the woods: he often stubbed his wings on the trunks, but this gave me an idea. I climbed on Safire's neck, to whisper in his ear.

"Stop."

He did, landed on the ground and folded his wings back. The purple dragon dived like an eagle on its prey, claws ready to grab it.

"Run."

Safire ran, and our pursuer crashed on the grass. The sound of the huge creature's body hitting the ground was awful, along with its pain screams. I felt my eardrums nearly explode. Suddenly, my friend stopped running, and turned around to the other dragon. He ate its rider in less than one second, and talked in the dragon growl language. To my huge surprise and amazement, I understood what they were saying. They were talking about the dragons' millenar slavery, their ancestors who died for the ungrateful trolls, and the fate destined to those who dared to rebel, as Safire did. But especially about breaking the rules and become free again. The blue dragon bowed his head to the elder, like if he was praying, then carefully threw a pale blue fire on him. I felt it wasn't an ordinary flame, because slowly, the fallen dragon stood up, his wounds magically healed.

"Thank you, young one," he said in troll language. "It isn't safe for you. You have to escape."

"-But... what about you?" I asked.

"-They already have me, while your friend is still a wild dragon. Stay on the ground until you reach the Lotaf plains. They'll have pain to find you there."

"-Thanks a lot."

The majestic creature then took off, and flew to the clouds.  
On the spot, I thought it was a trap. Soldiers could already be at Lotaf, waiting for us to come. But Safire trusted the dragon, and ran under the light traversing the highest leaves. I sat on his saddle, grabbing the edge to not unbalance. This ride wasn't as great as our flight, but I really liked it, and took the time to look around me. Two little blue birds flew next to us, before landing on the twigs. On a branch, a nut-eatingbeast was nibbling a golden brown acorn. There were little white flowers between the maples' roots, and golden bees all around. All of these things didn't existed in Lopah, right next to the village. It's how I knew that we were far from home.

"Crab?", Safire suddenly asked.

"-Huh...what?" I said, lost in my thoughts.

"-Where bad crab?"

Kaniot wasn't with me. He decided to not come into this suicide mission. I feared what he could be doing now, if he was still alive. My white crab, watching over me since my youth, might be gone forever.

"Karkat cry?"

I was crying, indeed. Mourning the loss of my custodian. I still had tears to shed, in fact, but stayed serious, as the knight-like person I had become.  
We had been walking for an hour or so when we reached the forest edge. In front of us, we could see high grass on green hills, as far as our eyes could see. There wasn't any noise coming from this vastness, except the wind's howling in the bushes. I couldn't help to run in the grass, which was so high that it tickled my arms. Behind me, Safire in this troll form lay down on the ground, grinning. I joined him, and we rested together in the middle of the plain. Slowly, his hand touched mine, and I held it without thinking. I closed my eyes, and listened to the wind's music. My armor was heavy on my shoulders, along with the thought of the soldiers I killed, but this time, it wasn't because of traps. I killed them by my own hands, and it was awful. We were in danger, and I killed them. It was the first time in my life I was so worried about those guys.  
I noticed that Safire and I were crossing our fingers together, and smiled too. I put my head on his chest, feeling him breathing, listening to his strong heartbeat. He wrapped his arms around me, and we stayed in this embrace for who knows how long. We were together, that was the point. I needed Safire's presence to be happy. I needed him. I cuddled him too, looking for some warmth in his arms. His soft, careful firebreath gave me everything I wanted. His hands were stroking my back, and suddenly my armor opened. I removed its top, and put it on the ground. It was now easier to cuddle each other, though the dragon-troll wasn't wearing anything but a jacket and old pants. My fingers were playing on his sides, his chest, his strong arms, to his fun smile. I didn't know why I was doing that; I put it on the relief of being still alive. We needed to relax, to calm down a bit. We were two friends tickling each other in the grass, like children. We were laughing, rolling on the ground, playing tag like the kids we were. At one moment, he turned back into a dragon, and we decided to play around, acting like an evil dragon and the proud knight. He tackled me on the ground like a mouse before I could even move. I escaped from his ivory claws and jumped on his back, attempting to 'tame' him. He reared up like an excited horse, but finally calmed down and took off. We climbed up to the sky really fast. I discovered, while getting through them, that the clouds were made of water. My hair was soaked from the little cold drops that made me shiver. Under us were the green hills and a small village, Derse, whose houses were as small as tiny leaves from here, and the amazed trolls, little ants waggling between the minuscule fields, were looking at us. At this distance, they were certainly mistaking us for a big bird. In my ears, the wind was whistling as Safire flapped his wings. My hair was getting all over my eyes, my armor was shining with the afternoon sun, and far in the skyline a rainbow was born. Its colours gave me a smile.

"Karkat happy?" my dragon said.

"Karkat more than happy," I answered. "Karkat and Safire free."

I hugged his scaly neck. His heart was strongly beating under my arms, heating my shivering body. I couldn't resist standing up on his back to breathe in the pure air. I checked that nobody was following us this time, and we did some loops and barrel rolls. But then, I thought more about us. Where could we go? What will we do? I couldn't find the answer.  
We landed on a hill, far out of sight from any life form, except some wild animals wandering in the grass. In one sword chop, I killed two hopbeasts for dinner. In one jaw move, Safire lit up a fire. While the meat was cooking, the stars were falling. Our meal together was delicious; I hadn't eat meat in months, even sweeps. I blushed a lot when he put some between my lips, but did the same to him. We went on like this until the night fell, stroking each other's mouths as we played. We played and played again, careless, but tired. I was laughing, grinning, having a lot of fun being with him, when I suddenly felt his lips on mine.  
I first thought he was joking; but his tongue licked my mouth, slipping inside. I felt a strange, incredible heat inside of me, and the taste of the meat in his hot breath. I shivered of it as if I was drowning in a pool of the white rain that comes when the trees lose their leaves. He pecked me on the lips, the cheeks, the neck, only to make me shiver even more. I couldn't get a word for what I was feeling right now, until he pounced on me and licked my face all over with his rough tongue; it was desire. A kind of desperate lust, the one that is only shared between two people alone in the middle of a high grass field, with nobody to watch them having these new experiences. But he was my friend, and a dragon too... I wondered if it was worth something to listen to these pulses coming from my heart, my brain, and...elsewhere. Shyly, I followed my friend's example and kissed him back, our tongues intervening, our fingers crossing together, my body suddenly full of...what was it? Pleasure? The answer came to me when he rubbed my horns, making me chirp.

"Safire...what are you doing?", I asked.

"-Karkat tired. Needs to relax."

"-I'm not tired at- ooohh..."

He had rubbed my nubs and my pulse just went faster. Under my armor, I felt something moving. It was wet.

"What...are you doing?"

As an answer, he kissed me again. This time, I bit his tongue softly, making him growl. It wasn't an angry growl, but rather a begging one. He wanted more, so I gave him more; I took my armor off, and fell in his arms.  
This was maybe the best moment of my life. He was so strong while I looked like a twig in his warm arms. I thought I was gonna pass out when he thrust into me so hard it almost made me cry of pain. But I loved every part of it, especially when it was my turn to enter inside of him for the first time. My organs were spilling strange red flood over his blue, as these did when I was...doing some things alone in Kaniot's back. For some reason I couldn't put a finger on, Kanny hadn't wanted me to do this. It's why I was so ashamed, almost humiliated to commit these acts with Safire, but the pleasure I was feeling got over it.  
My dragon covered me with his wing when I cuddled him to sleep. He'd stay awake for the first half of the night, watching over me as Kaniot did when I was younger. Kanny... I wondered where he was. I wondered what he was doing. And I even wondered if he had really cared about me disappearing.

\---

Dang, couldn't we peacefully go fly without being hunted? This time, it was the Skydwellers again, the flying intervention force of Alternia. The ones who rode dragons. I couldn't stop thinking about why they wanted us while they had these green, gigantic beasts. What did Safire have that others dragons hadn't? I didn't have time to think about it; they were getting closer at each instant. Trying to fight on Safire's back was impossible, at least at this altitude. The white eagles were close to grab us like scared mice, now. Safire attempted to burn them, but he was too scared to produce a respectable flame. I tried to lead him next to the ground, but there weren't any trees to hide between. There were just the grassy fields, and the borderline of Derse. The inhabitants were scared of us, that's why they called the Skydwellers, in order to catch us. They were scared of a small dragon and a young boy, but they loved these savage tamers, logic where are you. Talking about those guys, beside them the Blue Swords are lovely kittens. They burned half of the crops, destroyed two houses, and even killed someone with their dragons' fangs. To avoid them, we rose up to the clouds, but it was useless. They were just too fast. Safire, habitually full of energy, was tired of this pursuit. He was tired since this morning; was it our evening together, or just the fear? I hadn't the time to think, our pursuers were too close. I was slipping on this too tight saddle, firmly grabbing Safire's neck. My sword was in my hand, but I couldn't use it without risking my own life at this altitude of five hundred feet. I felt that I'll have to, even if it was useless against an adult dragon and three eagles. I drew it nonetheless, and Safire suddenly turned back into a troll. We first fell at an incredible speed. I felt my flesh melting in the air, if it wouldn't by the crash. Safire held me tight against him, then opened his wings out. He stabilized our fall, still as a troll, and we landed safe on the ground. Safire then took me by the hand, and we ran to hide. I heard a beast growling above us, while I was running even faster, creeping my dragon along behind me.

"Safire, quick! They'll catch us if we don't move!"

"-Safire...tired..."

"-C'mon, you usually so vivid! Why are you such a snail, now?"

We hid behind a stone, and he fell in my arms. He was burning of fever.

"Karkat...Safire don't feeling well..."

"-Don't tell me you're sick, please...I mean, it isn't really the time to..."

He suddenly passed out. I held him close to me, pressing his head against my cold armor, trying by any ways to wake him up without doing any noise. The Skydwellers seemed to be gone. I took off Safire's jacket, lounging him on the grass, trying to see what was wrong. He was sweating, mumbling small growls similar to the crab language. Going out of our hideout, I looked around to locate the soldiers, to no avail. Behind me, Safire was giving off little squeaks of pain. Whenever I had a fever, Kaniot would prepare me some plant mix. I looked for the grasses I needed and cut them in pieces. When I went back to Safire, he was totally reestablished.

"Safire...are you okay?"

"-Safire okay. Safire feeling better."

I wanted to ask what it was, when I suddenly saw something shining bright red under the sun. Behind him, the biggest ovale ruby I've ever seen was reflecting the sunlight, wrapped carefully in his blue jacket.

"What...is it? Where did you find it?", I asked.

Smiling, he wanted to answer, but what he said was covered by a horrendous roar. Safire turned back into his dragon form, let me climb on him, and ran before taking off.

"Karkat, we have to fight! We can't let them win this battle! I can't let them win!"

I was totally surprised by this, and also by the fact he said 'I'. Fearing nothing, reaching his maximum speed, he rushed on the green dragon like a blue lightning shot. He clawed at, bit, scratched, and threw a huge and impressive red fire at the birds. I couldn't do anything except grab his scales to not fall, until I remembered I still had a sword. I jumped on the green dragon, trying to pierce its heart under the robust scales. But I couldn't: they were too solid.

"Karkat!" Safire shouted. "His eyes!"

I climbed the dragon's neck like a tree, avoiding its furious jaw hits. Using its thorns to climb, I jumped on its head. The emerald eyes, encompassed with black circles, took a furious look at me. The dragon shook his head to make me fall, but I clawed its dog ears-like head nubs, sword in hand. Below me, Safire was still firing at the dragon. I raised my weapon, when I heard a deep, female voice.

"It doesn't matter now," she said.

The second after, my blade went through a jade eye. Blood spilled everywhere. A scream resonated in the sky, painful and horrendous. I felt all of my bones shivering. Safire grabbed me and flew away, leaving the green dragon to fall in pain. One second, I saw her (I was sure she was female) remaining eye crying. Safire rushed on the ground, then to the stone where he left his ruby. The green dragon wasn't moving anymore. In her wounded eye, my sword broke in a dozen of little pieces. I held her paw, vulnerable to a single move. But she didn't attack; she just gazed at me, offering her throat.

"Finish...", she attempted.

I was crying too. Her pierced eye, with still a piece of metal inside, was bleeding all over her shining scales, most of these were ripped off, and a part of her wing was missing. She had wounds all over her body.

"Did...they...do that to you...?" I asked, talking about the soldiers.

She nodded. This is why they were always looking for dragons: theirs were dying too fast because of bad treatment. The creature suddenly turned into a troll: an adult female, just wearing a rag. Her circle glasses were broken. I took the five inch long-metal part out of her eye, aimed at her chest, crying, and she smiled in approval. I abridged her pain as quick as I could.  
Safire cuddled me while I was crying, my hands covered in dragon blood. 'Praying' like he did with the purple dragon, he lit up a fire on her body. The flames became green as she turned into ashes, led away by the wind. I felt some ashamed relief when I thought about Safire having escaped this fate.

"Karkat...you don't have to cry."

"-But still... it's painful to see the things trolls can do. Especially the bad ones."

He hugged me again.

"We have to go.", he said.

I nodded. Turning back to the remaining embers, I took his hand, and saw he still had the huge ruby in hand. Nevermind-ing it, I looked at the sky. Safire made a little nest with his jacket, leaves and some of his own hair, then put the ruby inside. I was still wondering why he was talking to the jewel, growling softly to it. A little doubt appeared in my mind, but it was too silly to be believed.

"Will you leave it here?", I just asked.

"-It'd be better."

He then took my hand, and we walked together through the field. I was happy to stay alive with Safire, but also scared of this instant being too short. And when they rushed on us out of the grass, riding their beasts, I knew I was right.

\---

We'll die soon. We were chained to the wall of a dark cell, waiting for the Blues to come. Safire attempted to escape, but his manacles were sort of blocking his transformation. He was crying in front of me while I tried to comfort him. I didn't wanted him to become what Emerarley (the name I mentally used instead of 'green dragon') was: a direct target, a live fire-thrower, a prisoner of his own mind just wanting to die. But we couldn't escape: two hundred or more soldiers were watching every corner of the Royal Prison. Going either way was impossible, so I chose the third solution. They confiscated my armor, but hadn't found the blade piece I used to achieve Emerarley. I still had it in my sleeve, and when I talked about it to Safire, his tears went even more insane.

"Karkat...I cant... We left it all alone..."

He was talking about his ruby. A bit upset, I asked him why he was crying about a stupid jewel. And when he told me what it was, I found myself crying too.

"It's marvelous and sad at the same time...", I began.

"-At least...they haven't found it."

I smiled for maybe the last time, then put the blade between my and Safire's hearts. It was our only option: die by our own hands.

"One...", I said.

Safire grinned:

"Two..."

I closed my eyes, thinking about all of our moments together. Happy, sad, cuddly or sensual. I thought about Kaniot. About my family. And for the first time of my life, I could tell what was after two.

"Three."

We wrapped our arms around each other and kissed deeply, the blade piercing both of our hearts. I smiled into the kiss, as I felt myself drowning in the gloom, tasting his bloodied lips on mine, feeling the embrace of the Death as much as Safire's, falling on the ground, whispering a last thing before losing myself to the dusk.

"I love you."

And then, the world turned all black. My last thought was for the ruby we left behind.

_My blood color has still a task to complete._

\---

My name is Kaniot, but others call me Kanny. I'm a Lusus, Karkat is my protégé. I like apples.  
I was walking in Lotaf, searching for Karkat, when I saw it, hidden in the grass: a ruby red, oval little stone, in a cloth nest. I thought it was a jewel, and I like shining things, so I took it with me. And then, all of a sudden, it hatched. It wasn't a jewel, but an egg, and inside was a baby fire-beast.  
He was red. I was surprised. And then he turned into a wiggler. A red blood-ed wiggler like Karkat, horns nubby as Karkat's, toothy grin like Karkat's. He smiled at me, and as a Lusus, I hugged him. He was a mix of a red troll and a dragon: he was the child of my troll and the fire-beast. They were gone now. The only thing left of them is their descendant.  
I took him in my pincers, but instead of walking back home, I went down the hills, to the Loraf river. I had an idea. This is where our family farm was before the war. Everything was still in its place. As a form of respect, Karkat never went back here. I lay down the cutie grub on a torn up bed, and growled a lullaby for him to sleep. I rearranged some hair strands on his face, put a cover on his fragile red body, and stayed at his side until the night fell outside. The sound of the nearby river was relaxing. I wonder why I hadn't thought of this solution earlier.  
Now I think more about it, I realize the destiny wanted Karkat to meet the dragon. I think it wanted them to end their lives together, leaving only an egg behind. It was cruel, so cruel. As cruel as I was by manipulating Karkat to make him sell his friend to the Blues. May my exile absolve this fault.  
Tomorrow, I'll take Kankri to the hills. He needs to learn how to fly. He needs vast spaces. But what about food? I'll hunt, and he'll help me when he gets older. If he hides his blood and if I work hard enough, he could even go to school. He could become someone. When he becomes ready enough, I'll tell him about the sacrifice made by his parents. He deserves to know that his fathers were a dragon and its tamer that faced all of their dangers without any fear.  
Will Kankri find a tamer too, or stay wild forever? Will he finally ride the sky someday? On top of all that, will he be happy? For that last one, I'll make sure it happens. In memory of Karkat and Safire.


End file.
